Circle of Solace
The Circle of Solace is a wide reaching monastic order, policing body, and political entity found predominantly in the western regions of Ethos. Their primary concern is the research and regulation of magic. Resistance to the Circle was cited as the single biggest driving force in the creation of the League of Nine. Structure The Circle is widely distributed through the Alliance of States and one of the most politically powerful non-state entities, equaled only by the Church of Baruc. At least one Circle Tower is present in every major Alliance city, and additional Circle outposts can be found outside of urban areas. The Circle is structured as a confederation, with individual chapters convening through a central location. The central administration is largely meant as a forum, with few actual executive powers. Most Alliance leaders have members of the Circle present in their cabinet or assembly. The Circle is funded primarily through tax dollars, paid by member cities. They also offer magic schools, some of which require tuition. Services The Circle's primary function and expertise is the management of wizards. This is primarily accomplished through the sanctioning system, in which a wizard must provide a blood sample and their True Name, collectively referred to as a phylactery. The phylactery serves as a fail-safe should the wizard ever go rogue. The sanctioning process provides the wizard with a Power Ranking corresponding to a precious metal. The Circle also controls the flow of Orichalcum through the Alliance by virtue of being the biggest single carrier of the metal. Non-Circle orichalcum suppliers exist, but the Circle controls the majority of supply. Orichalcum's soft nature makes it difficult to mine and purify, particularly since these must be done via completely mundane means; the Circle's wide network lends it the resources to extract orichalcum and also to monopolize known supply. In order to facilitate accurate appraisals of Power Ranking, each Circle tower also contains an academy of magic. These academies teach fledgling wizards their trade. The majority of research and theory on magic in the west is produced under Circle auspices. The charter of the Alliance of States makes the use of magic by non-sanctioned individuals illegal, giving the Circle a de facto monopoly on wizard manpower. This was already law in most of its jurisdictions before the foundation of the Alliance. Political Influence The Circle has endured over the centuries by being politically useful. True Names make wizards incompatible with monarchy, leading to kings and wizards having an adversarial relationship. Circle phylacteries proved an invaluable tool for mundane governments to control their wizard populations. As a result, the Circle's political influence grew steadily over the years, with most monarchs having members of the Circle among their council of advisers. In the modern era, every governing assembly in the Alliance has members of the Circle among its number. The increasing intermingling of the Circle and western government, combined with their slow but steady eastward expansion, was cited by Paragon of the Shattered Anvil as the inspiration for the League of Nine. The Circle and the League "The Circle is a gun pointed at the head of every wizard under its auspices, with ambitions of bringing the entire world under its dominion." ''-''Paragon of the Shattered Anvil, 1658 The Circle is not welcome in the League of Nine. In addition to the Circle being explicitly forbidden from operating in League jurisdictions, the constitution of the League of Nine makes the creation of phylacteries illegal. Paragon of the Shattered Anvil cited the Circle's growing influence and presumed goal of sanctioning every wizard in the world as the ultimate threat to the rights of wizards. While the Circle is generally seen as a policing and research body in the west, eastern propaganda largely paints the Circle as an institution of slavery. It is most criticized for making its sanction a de facto requirement for legal use of magic, for cataloging wizards in a way that mundane humans are not subjected to, and for its perceived tight control of wizards. The League of Nine was created at least in part to create a space where wizards would not be subject to the Circle's methodical cataloging.